I used to think I disliked cherries, because I hated cherry-flavored candies, vitamins, drinks, and especially cherry cough drops. But I don’t think I’d ever tasted an actual cherry until I was a teenager. Weird, right?
After that first taste, I was in love!
Now, in the summertime, I’ll almost always have fresh cherries in my kitchen. Such was the case yesterday, when a neighbor came to me with a special request…
She is a huge fan of my Buttery Berry Crumble Bars.
And she asked if she could hire me to make her a batch. Someone requesting a vegan baked good?? Obviously I told her I’d be happy to make them for free! To deviate a little different from last time, I decided to make the bars with fresh cherries:
Cherry Crumble Bars
(Makes 10-14 bars)
- 1.5 cup whole-wheat pastry flour (or white flour, or Bob’s gluten-free)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup brown sugar or coconut brown sugar (or xylitol, for a sugar-free option)
- pinch stevia OR add another tbsp brown sugar
- 1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 cup plus 3 tbsp cold butter sub (Or click for: Fat-Free Option.)
- 2 tbsp milk of choice
- 2 cups fresh or frozen cherries, chopped (8oz)
- 2 tsp cornstarch
- 3 tbsp pure maple syrup, agave, or honey
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- optional: a handful of chocolate chips
Cherry Bars Recipe: Stir together the first eight ingredients, making sure to break the butter up really well so that little crumbs form. Scoop 2/3 of the dough into a 4×7, oiled glass dish (or any small pan), and press down firmly. In a separate bowl, stir together the other ingredients. Layer them into the pan, then top with the rest of the dough from the first pan and press down a bit. Bake for 45 minutes at 350 F, then cool at least 30 minutes before cutting into bars. Store uncovered, unless you want a soft crust (in which case, you should cover completely with saran wrap).
View Cherry Crumble Bars Nutrition Facts
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vogelstar says
Hello,
I made these bars today but used strawberries instaed because i had so many. They are just tastilicious. I posted a pic of them on my blog if you care to see how they look. Keep baking!
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
They are beautiful! I’m so honored you tried them, and I think strawberries sound like a delicious variation.
ALL your blog photos are beautiful. Makes me *almost* wish for snow. Almost!
I couldn’t find a place to comment on your blog, so I hope you see this :).
KayT says
Hey Katie, when making it with the vegan butter, does that make the recipe dairy free? I am trying to make a dessert for a friend who is allergic to gluten and dairy. Thanks! (These look delicious and I cannot wait to try them out)
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
Yes! Every recipe on my site is dairy free :).
Just be sure to use something like Earth Balance, which is dairy-free. And use almond or soymilk (or another nondairy milk).
KayT says
great.. thank you!
Amy says
I like to bake cherries and fresh apples in the oven. I make a glaze to pour over them before baking; olive oil, brown sugar, cinnamon and walnuts. I bake them at 350 until the apples are soft and serve warm with vanilla frozen yogurt or by its self. Very yummy!
Tricia says
I made these yesterday using coconut oil instead of vegan butter. They turned out great.! So yummy!!
Felicia says
I do not like cherries! I give them a chance every summer when my siblings go crazy and buy them in bulk- but yuck. Mostly, I’m just pick about having to pick out a seed in between each bite.
Aimee says
LOVE Cherries, detest cherry-flavored things.
I grew up picking cherries every summer in my Grandparent’s orchard (Washington State), and then we’d help pit them (with a big, counter-top pitter), and my Grandma would can them (great for cold fruit-soup, thickened with tapioca!). 🙂
Now, living in eastern Washington we pick TONS (like 120lbs!!) of cherries every year, pit & freeze them for year-round cherry “ice cream” (100% fruit, like banana ice cream…in the vita-mix), smoothies, cobblers, oatmeal, and anything else we can think of). It helps that we’ve found an orchard where we can get Bing (the super-dark, nearly black-purple), Rainier, Royal Anne, even pie cherries, for just $.80/lb.
Christy says
Sorry if you’ve been asked this before and dealt with it on a post, but I’m always unsure as to how to convert stevia amounts when I don’t have it in “packets”. I have a bottle of powdered stevia that I don’t love to bake with because it has a weird aftertaste, and some vanilla-flavored liquid stevia that is much yummier but requires that I just make a wild guess on amounts when it’s called for in your recipes. Thoughts?
CCK says
I highly recommend Nu-Naturals Stevia because it has less of an aftertaste than other brands. If you use that brand, then 1/2 a teaspoon equals one packet. 🙂
Melody says
So glad for this recipe. I have some cherries in the fridge I need to eat before they go bad. I love cherries so I always buy more than my family can eat.
Aisha says
katie , could i use water instead of milk? I can’t wait to try thease!
christina.eats says
I made these into a kind of a crisp – put the cherry layer in a pan and topped it with the crumble layer (subbed out a third of the flour for oats and added in about 1/4 c extra oats). It was delicious! Also, I added in about 1/4 almond extract in place of some of the vanilla extract and it just added that extra something-something.
Thanks Katie!
Sunnie says
That’s how I am with artificial fruit-flavors…I detest them, and therefore think that I’ll probably hate their authentic counterparts (ex. I HATE artificial grape, and therefore am wary to try concord grapes, although they’re probably quite yummy…maybe…). These look awesome! 🙂
Sonja says
I LOVE cherries and eat them almost every day! During the off-season period (and sometime during the in-season, because they are pricey), I buy large bags of pitted frozen cherries. I pack them in my lunch and by morning snack they are thawed. But, I like them frozen also. They also go great in a cup of hot tea… they cool the tea down a bit and you get to eat them when the tea is gone! Can’t wait to try this recipe and so glad a friend turned me on to your blog.
moi says
I bet rhubarb would be another fruit that would work well with these!